​Graveyard Club - Goodnight Paradise
On album opener “Witchcraft” the band shimmer and are bigger than ever before with the help of engineer/producer Andy Thompson (Taylor Swift, Dan Wilson, jeremy messersmith, Belle and Sebastian). Sonically the band bridge familiar spaces from 80's synths to 50's crooners creating a distinctly nostalgic feel for a place and time you feel you know intimately, but never really existed. It's Twin Peaks in Cathedral Hill and Boris Karloff at the Under-The-Sea prom of your dreams.

​Elsewhere, “It Hurts”, “Red Roses”, and “Dreamland” find the band at their most anthemic, while “Cassandra” and “Miles and Miles” paint reflective moments in found sounds. There is deep release in “Deathproof” and a catharsis in “Birdie” that boils up in Schufman’s voice. These themes are similarly found in “July” and “William”, though obscured and deconstructed. If “Maureen” is a slow dance with an imaginary partner in your bedroom, “Finally Found” is an epic journey with that partner through winding roads, blinking arcades, and across speeding highways. The album’s namesake, then, is a cinematic instrumental and moment of reflection. It’s a meditation and a contradiction - both quiet and messy. It’s a postcard wishing a “Goodnight Paradise.”
Graveyard Club (Matthew Schufman (vocals, synths), Michael Wojtalewicz (guitar), Cory Jacobs (drums) and Amanda Zimmerman (bass, vocals) began inspired by a unique list of shared interests: the classic short stories of sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, the music of Ryan Gosling’s little-known band Dead Man’s Bones, and a fascination with both 50’s crooners and 80’s pop music. With an ever-growing reputation as one of Minneapolis' most compelling live acts, Graveyard Club has released two albums and an EP of their haunting brand of synthpop. They perform regularly at top Twin Cities venues (7th Street Entry, Turf Club, Fitzgerald Theater), and have toured nationally - supporting artists such as Elliot Moss, The Drums, Methyl Ethel, Cayucas, San Fermin, Beverly and others. Graveyard Club's songs have been featured on television for MTV, E!, and more. They continue to receive critical acclaim from local, national, and international press. The band’s third LP, Goodnight Paradise, will be released in 2019.

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Whether you grew up with New Order, The Cure, The Smiths, or Echo & the Bunnymen or dig artists like Real Estate, DIIV, Wild Nothing, The Drums, or Arcade Fire this band and album are for you. Graveyard Club draws from, and connects, these great artists while having a unique and expressive voice all their own. Goodnight Paradise is a beautiful record. It's honest, melodic, catchy, layered and simple yet complex - it's a perfect pop album.
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-Jake Rudh, Transmission, Minnesota Public Radio - The Current
Every once in a blue moon, I hear a band that makes me lean in close and smile and think to myself, “What is this?” Graveyard Club is one of those bands.
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​I saw them live early in their evolution, and even then, they exuded an understated confidence that normally comes after many years. Matt’s deceptively simple, lyrically evocative, stunningly-sad-but-somehow-still-hopeful songs and utterly gorgeous voice; Amanda’s perfectly complementing harmonies; Mike’s well-arranged and at times engulfing guitar parts; and Cory’s curiously lilting and totally unique drumming style.

I reached out, and ended up mixing 2016’s Cellar Door and their 2017 single Ouija—both delightful experiences, musically and personally. They had a strong vision for their recordings, but were also the rare band able to let go and cede control, allowing me to explore additional production and musical parts. So when we sat down to talk about their next full-length in early 2018, we realized it made sense for me to take a turn as producer. We jumped head first into “July” (cause why not start with the weirdest song of the bunch?) in my studio, and it became clear the vibe was strong and the music was going to be even stronger.

​We cranked Mike’s guitar pedals to regions previously unknown, and the vintage electric parlor organ in the corner at the Petting Zoo (NE Minneapolis studio where we also tracked) became a key part of other songs, layering onto Matt’s synths and giving them shades of the 1950s—a feel that ended up being an integral part of the album. After tracking some vocals through a crappy mic and a stompbox pitch-shifter, I discovered that combo sounded pretty great on drums as well, so of course that got thrown in the mix. And when it came time to record “Birdie”, it made total sense to me to keep things raw and loose by having the band track all the instruments live.

Goodnight Paradise tells a familiar story of loss and struggling to move on, but each song shines its own unique light - at times despondent, wistful, nostalgic, depressed, and hopeful. Here’s hoping the recordings we made together speak to others as much as they did to us when we created them.

-Andy Thompson, Producer
Press:
The Minneapolis quartet Graveyard Club makes moody synth rock befitting its name. “William,” a standout from the group’s album “Goodnight Paradise,” out Friday, is a brooding, yearning electro-goth song about reflecting on death to learn something about life. If it hasn’t been plucked to soundtrack “emotional realization” moments on screens of all sizes, music supervisors are sleeping on it. -CARYN GANZ, The New York Times

Minneapolis' Graveyard Club sound like The Cure without the bouffant hair and smeared lippy or Echo & The Bunnymen wearing t-shirts and shorts on the beach. On tracks like "The Night is Mine" they breathe new life into the usually dark and gloomy genre of goth rock. -NME

New wave revivalists Graveyard Club are more than a nostalgia act for fans of The Cure and New Order. Matthew Schufman's soaring vocals and synth work makes Graveyard Club's music feel immediate, and grand gestures like "Sleepwalk" and "Fire in the Sky" from Nightingale create a heart swell when delivered at high volume. Their live show is a genuine conversion experience.  -Go 96.3
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‘Sleepwalk’ is a six-shooter of nostalgic, beat driven atmospherics reminiscent of the better parts of the 80s shoegaze movement... that other-worldly aesthetic permeates the tracks with reverb drenched synths and lilting vocals coming at you like a phantom teenage fantasy.  -Killer Ponytail

​Management/Booking:
Bobby Maher
WoolsMGMT
[email protected]

Licensing:
John Ritchie
Gold Sounds
​[email protected]